For three decades, the SSTI Digest has been the source for news, insights, and analysis about technology-based economic development. We bring together stories on federal and state policy, funding opportunities, program models, and research that matter to people working to strengthen regional innovation economies.
The Digest is written for practitioners who are building partnerships, shaping programs, and making policy decisions in their regions. We focus on what’s practical, what’s emerging, and what you can learn from others doing similar work across the country.
This archive makes it easy to explore years of Digest issues, allowing you to track the field’s evolution, revisit key stories, and discover ideas worth revisiting. To stay current, subscribe to the SSTI Digest and get each edition delivered straight to your inbox.
Also consider becoming an SSTI member to help ensure the publication and library of past articles may remain available to the field.
The University of Alaska Board of Regents voted on Aug. 4 to eliminate higher tuition rates for out-of-state students. The unanimous vote is expected to be finalized in November, when the regents will set tuition rates for the 2027-28 academic year. University finance officials said the change is not expected to significantly reduce revenue, but it could help the University attract more students from outside Alaska.
Intellectual property-intensive industries account for 44% of private-sector GDP, 66 million jobs, and $1.58 trillion in commodity exports, according to a new report released by the United States Patent and Trademark Office this month. The report sheds light on how IP is distributed among various industries.
A recent flurry of new rules, both proposed and finalized, may interest small business owners or those who advise them.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has proposed two new rules. The first, Revised Size Standards Methodology, will update SBA’s methodology for determining which businesses qualify as “small.” The second, on Small Business Size Standards, would consolidate the number of industry-specific size standards and raise size standard thresholds.
SSTI’s recent TBED Community of Practice webinar took up a practical question raised by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy report, Science: A New Golden Age: if federal science policy shifts, what changes will universities, commercialization, and regional innovation organizations need to make?
The presentation outlined a research system that could look considerably different from the one that has developed since Vannevar Bush’s Science, the Endless Frontier.
Data reveal that policymakers should not equate strong Venture Development Organizations (VDOs) with private venture capital companies; the purpose of creating public policy to increase the availability of innovation-centered risk capital can be lost if one presumes VCs and VDOs are the same. While there are many similarities between individual VDOs and VC funds, important differences in industry concentration emerge when the two groups are compared in aggregate, which may result in different long-term economic impacts.
Effective VDOs are important drivers of regional innovation and of pushing emerging tech businesses forward. VC, on the other hand, can play an extractive role, particularly in markets with scarce equity finance options.
The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), housed within the National Science Foundation (NSF), recently launched a new “Indicators Explorer” data visualization tool that allows users to quickly build line, bar, and column charts as well as various maps and other graphics from within the Indicators platform. The tool draws on 28 indicators across topics pertinent to S&E such as patents, research publications, R&D expenditures, and the STEM workforce. NSF expects to update the tool periodically with new indicators and data.
When a major employer closes, jobs disappear, buildings sit empty, and communities are left wondering what comes next. A new white paper from the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) and the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) looks at how that disruption can become a starting point for economic reinvention.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), and leaders from the state’s business and innovation sectors recently announced the creation of a new public‑private partnership: the Governor’s Competitiveness Council. Led by members of the business community in collaboration with government officials, the council will develop a long‑term, statewide vision to strengthen Colorado’s national business competitiveness and greater enhance the state’s innovation ecosystem. The council will also craft a data‑driven strategy to benchmark Colorado’s competitive advantages and identify legislative, policy, and regulatory recommendations aimed at further strengthening the state’s economy.
Strong regional ecosystems connect universities, entrepreneurs, investors, manufacturers, workforce organizations, and state and local governments. Rather than supporting just isolated institutions, federal agencies are now investing in collaborative regional networks capable of translating research into new companies, industries, and jobs. The intent is not for every region to become the next Silicon Valley, but to enable regions to compete by organizing around what they already do well.
As SSTI noted in its recent look at quarterly investment activity, gaining insight into angel investment is difficult because of the challenges of separating angel activity from seed and other early VC transactions. Fortunately, the Angel Capital Association (ACA) recently published a report that provides a deep dive into 2025 angel investment activity and provides more clarity on this important financial partner for regional innovation. The big picture takeaway from the ACA report is that, like VCs, angel groups are making larger investments in fewer companies.
As those involved with the longstanding, internationally recognized program know, an air of uncertainty has enveloped NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) for the past two years. With the release of the new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for MEP Centers (see SSTI’s write‑up here), it appears that perhaps many of those troubles may be in the past. Even so, the uncertainty has prompted many manufacturers, small businesses, and MEP centers to explore alternate funding sources, partnerships, and forms of assistance beyond NIST.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for 14 Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers. The funding will establish MEP centers in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Utah and Vermont.
Selected applicants must secure nonfederal matching funds (or cost-share) of at least 50% and will enter into a cooperative agreement with NIST to operate the centers. The new centers will join the MEP National Network™, which comprises MEP centers across the country and includes nearly 1,400 manufacturing advisers and experts at more than 450 MEP service locations, with oversight provided by the MEP program at the federal level.
NIST plans to award up to the following amounts to centers in each location:
